Relationship Status
by Zoinks81
Summary: What happened right after New Comic Day ended? Well if you found yourself asking that very question then click on this story, as it will provide you with the answers you may have craved. And if you did not ask the question ... well read this story anyways.
1. Chapter 1

**How's it going readers? Well I am back with another story about Kat and Lincoln. This one takes place right after New Comic Day, and is a sort of make up story to Codymitchell1. My Hero was supposed to be the sequel to New Comic Day but it turned in to more a story about Lori, and even though that is my favorite story I have written, it was not the follow up I had intended on doing. So here is one that is more about Kat and Lincoln and what happened after he got his comic.**

 **As always I don't own a darn thing, the copyrights and trademarks reside with their respective owners.  
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 **Relationship Status**

 **by Zoinks81**

 **Chapter 1: Who Ya Gonna Call?**

Lincoln stared at the number on his phone, he cleared it and set the phone back on his desk, then went back to sit on his bed. He had done this more times than he cared to admit. He didn't understand why he was having such a hard time figuring out what to say to her. He had rehearsed it a few times now and even wrote it down. Yet still his nerves were wreaking havoc on him. Kat had even told him that she wanted him to call her, left her number on a note attached to a comic book she bought for him. Why was he so dang nervous around girls? Christina, Ronnie Anne, Paige, and now Kat. He was very good at falling for a girl from a distance, but once the time came to make a move he found himself sweating like a pig at an all you eat bacon buffet. What was he so afraid of?

He thought back to how much fun he and Kat had that day at Burpin Burger. A freak accident the shifted into a chance encounter that blossomed into a wonderful time. Two kids who had gone to school together on a daily basis for the past four years, yet not once truly interacted with each other. Sure there may have been a sideways glance here or there, a few passing seconds of acknowledgment in the hallways as they passed by each other. But in the end, they were really just faces in a crowd to each other, only known by a reputation that followed them like a stalking butler.

All of that changed with a spilled milkshake, a lunch of hamburgers, and a long awaited comic book that sat on his desk still unopened, that came with a note attached. Now Kat was all he could think about. He wanted to call her and tell her how much fun he had, and how he thought she was cute. Dang cute. He wanted to tell her that the past few days when ever she would float into his mind he would smile and his heart would beat to the sound of music on he could hear. It was a sappy little song that Luna would probably give him grief over. And it was a feeling that would garner a loving look from his sisters and make them say " _Awwwww_ " as they clasped their hands together and held them to their chests. He wanted to say all of those things and more, but in the end he was just too scared. Afraid of what came next.

His sisters would tell him that he was in love. That was not true. Not yet. No, he was sure that love was not the feeling he was experiencing, he knew it was a crush. He had had enough of them to know what he was feeling. Yet there was something different this time around. Lincoln could not put his finger on it, but he knew there was something that hovered around these feelings like a bee waiting to get to the sweet nectar of a blooming flower. He felt there was something special about Kat, something that he had not experienced before. Well, once before. Lincoln had known something akin to what he was feeling now, back when a certain young Hispanic girl in a purple hoodie would bully him. When his sisters said that she was only doing so because she liked him and did not know how to show it. There was a lasting feeling after he marched out of his front door, a man on a mission, and planted a kiss on her. Sure she popped him good in the eye, making his heart hurt just slightly more than his eye. And his ego was just as bruised at that very same eye. But before she tossed that note attached to the rock, through his window, there was something that hung in the air. There was an unspoken and unseen notion that hung around like lingering perfume. Later he would look back on it and almost be able to grasp the concept, still not fully aware what it meant. It was potential. The possibility of those seedlings of feelings that were shared between the two to grow into something much more than a simple school yard crush. He left Burpin Burger that day with Kat, those very same feelings being planted.

Still, his nerves were on edge at the thought of calling this girl up. He was becoming an expert at crushing on a girl for afar, living out his fantasies in the safety of his mind. Yet to actually have to talk to that girl, to open himself up and let his feelings spill out on to the floor. Well that was something that scared him far worse than having to sit through a Harvester movie marathon. For a kid named Loud, he could be just as shy and timid as his best friend when it came to girls.

He lay on the bed and closed his eyes, looking deep within himself as he wondered why he was the way he was. He had ten sisters. Eleven years of being around girls, sharing a bathroom, listening to their problems, and even helping them solve their differences. He had been able to talk to them openly, and listen to them when they needed someone to talk to. All things that made it easy for him to talk to any girl in school as long as they were just friendly little chats. Once the barrier of friendship began to crumble and fall, with that bright shining light of love glowing in the distance, well then things became much more difficult. He was just not sure why. Was it something left over from his previous crushes?

Christina, his first crush. Sure it could be said that she was the one that set the pace for all of his troubles with women. He never really let on just how much it hurt him that she moved to another class to avoid him. Rejection he could handle, having someone so creeped out that they have to actually move to another room, well that was a whole other kind of hurt. In the end he couldn't really blame her too much, after all the way she found out was well beyond the border of embarrassing. A secret video his sister Luan had recorded of him kissing a statue with Christina's picture on it. Add to that the fact that the video was posted online, and well it would be a bit much for anyone to handle. Still, the way she rejected him was like taking a sledgehammer to his fragile ego. He was shattered. That may have set him up to fear rejection more than he realized.

Paige, his last crush was better, but not by much. Things were pretty good in the beginning, after he gave her the note they talked and hung out a few times. Turned out they both were really into comics and science fiction as well as the video games that brought them together. She was cute, and lots of fun to be around, and it seemed like they enjoyed hanging out together. He was still not quite sure what happened for it all to blow up in his face the way that it did. All he knew was that she wanted to take him to some party that some of her friends were having, and when he backed out, she ignored him for about a week. He wanted to go to the party with her, he was just a little nervous because she called it a date. Once the _D_ word was used it sent him into a spiraling panic. He was not ready for a date. The next time he saw her she was introducing him to a guy she met at the party who became her boyfriend. Having the girl you have been crushing on introduce you to her new boyfriend is the emotional equivalent of a nut shot.

Last but not least was of course Ronnie Anne. Christina and Paige were simple little crushes that you got when you saw a cute girl and wondered what it would be like to hold her hand or give her a peck on the cheek. Ronnie Anne was something more. Everyone saw it. The way they would steal sideways glances at each other, the secret notes that he had kept in a scrap book, and of course the kiss. It was his first kiss, and she belted him for it, but they both knew there was a spark there. It was only later confirmed with the second kiss at Jean Juan's, the one where she kissed back. Every moment they got to be around each other would become one of his favorite memories. His heart would beat faster and his cheeks would glow bright red, something he was glad she never once made fun of him for. Although there was little she could have said, after all she blushed just as much as he did. After April Fools when she took him to get a milkshake, a reward for taking all of his sisters pranks for her, their hands had accidentally grazed each others. At first they would quickly pull their hands away as their cheeks glowed a bright crimson. Yet soon they found themselves inching closer to each other until she had put her hand on top of his. They never spoke of it, but they both knew how much they liked it. It was never said out loud or made official, but Lincoln knew it just as well as his sisters did. Ronnie Anne was his first love.

That was why it hurt so much more than he ever let on to anyone, but mostly to himself, when Ronnie Anne had moved away. They were too young to attempt a long distance relationship, especially since they were never actually in a relationship to begin with. They were just two kids who really liked each other but were too intimidated by the sheer weight of love to confess how they really felt for each other. They wondered if they became boyfriend and girlfriend if that meant they couldn't just hang out and play video games. Would they have to give each other stupid pet nicknames? Would she get as jealous as Lori did when she saw Bobby talking to another girl? That was all stuff that could end up ruining a wonderful friendship. He was not sure he could handle something like that. Still, his heart would flutter like a butterfly when his mind drifted off to the past and that kiss. He could still feel the warmth of her lips on his and how much it made his soul sing a song that echoed throughout his body. That kiss made him believe in magic because there was no other way to explain what it did to him

Now Paige was off with her new boyfriend, probably locking lips and feeling that very same feeling that he had felt with Ronnie Anne. Christina was god knows where, sticking to her little restraining order and keeping a safe distance from the white haired boy that creeped her out so. And of course Ronnie Anne was off in the city with her family, more than likely moving on to what ever exciting new romantic adventures awaited her. Lincoln was left alone in his room looking at a phone number, his head drowning in thoughts and fears of future possibilities that made his hands sweat and his heart race. How was he going to work up the nerve to call her? And more importantly, what would he say to her?

There came a knock at the door that drew him from his mental musings and inward battle with his own confidence. He sighed and got off the bed, making his way to the door, opening it. Standing there in the doorway was Luna, a cocky smile on her face. She was wearing a black Copper Maiden t-shirt, the zombie looking mascot giving a sinister grin, and a purple and black plaid skirt with fishnets and heavy purple boots. She was actually wearing make up, smokey colored eye shadow with a deep purple lipstick. She was dressed to impress.

"Hey little bro, wanna go to the mall with us?" Luna asked.

"Who's us?" Lincoln said, looking passed Luna and seeing nothing but an empty hallway.

"Mom's gonna drop me off to meet up with Sam. Thought it would cool for the three of us to hang. She's been wanting to hang with us for a while now." Luna said.

Lincoln had not spent much time getting to know his sisters girlfriend. She had kept her relationship a secret for some time after she gave Sam the secret admirer note. The family was unaware of the fact that Sam was a girl for a long time. When they finally found out, they told Luna they did not care if she liked boys or girls, all they were concerned with was her happiness. This came as a great relief to Luna, who was a little worried as to how her family would react. Later it had occurred to her that she was being overly worried for no reason, her family was always so excepting of everybody and she would be no different.

Sam had met the family a few times before, but they were almost always just brief encounters, mostly waiting in the living room while Luna got ready to go out. Luna had mentioned before how Sam had wanted to spend some time with each of Luna's siblings, getting to know them all. Lincoln actually looked forward for a chance to get to know the girl that stole his sisters heart. He had not seen Luna as happy as she was with Sam in a long time.

"Yeah sure, could be alot of fun." He said. "Not like I am going to do anything around here." Lincoln looked back to the note now folded and sitting on his desk.

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 **So I hope this first chapter was pretty good for you guys, the next one will be up in a few days. I am working on a few other stories that I hope will be up and ready pretty soon as well.**

 **Also I just wanna make mention that I have started to become highly addicted to a comic book called I Hate Fairyland by Skottie Young. If you do not know of it, check it out, because it is wonderfully twisted and fun. I may end up doing a crossover in the very near future, that is how much I enjoy it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**So here is chapter two. This was my first time actually writing Sam, and I will admit I was a bit intimidated in doing this. Had a little trouble giving her a voice that was unique to her. Still not sure I got exactly what I was looking for, so I may have to bring her in on more stuff in the future, see if I can figure her character out.**

 **Also want to point out that I had just terrible with Luna's musical puns and references. For that reason they are not high on my priority when writing the character. I do apologize for that, it's just damn hard for me to find the right songs for the right moments. I will toss them in if I can, but for the most part she is just gonna talk normal. Well as normal and Luna Loud can be.**

 **Anyways, I wanna give a big thanks to those of you who commented, helps to know that people like my stuff. Also thanks to those who are just reading.**

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 **Relationship Status Chapter 2:**

 **The Mall**

They arrived at the mall just after two. Their mom dropped them off near the east entrance buy the bookstore and the discount shoe store. They walked in, past various clothing stores with faceless mannequins standing in the display windows looking like dead robots stuck in a moment in time. Lincoln imagined the emotionless statues coming to life and rebelling against those who dressed them in terrible looking outfits. He made a mental note to tell Clyde that later, as it could make a fun story for them to work on if they decided to try another comic book.

Sam was hanging outside a Rock Topic store looking at the display of new band shirts. She was wearing a powder blue leather jacket with the skull patch on the back, along with her white The What t-shirt that was tucked into a pair of burgundy jeans with a black studded belt. She turned and saw Lincoln and Luna coming her way and waved with a big smile. Lincoln could see it written all over her face, she was head over heels for his rocking sister.

"'Ello love." Luna said as she walked up and kissed Sam.

"Ahh, that's it." Sam said, getting confused looks from both Luna and Lincoln. "I was wondering what my day was missing. It was those lips." She smiled.

Luna blushed, a little embarrassed that her brother was seeing her girlfriend be so lovey dovey with her. This was a side of her that she liked to keep hidden from her family. Her cheeks grew a deeper shade of red when she noticed the grin on Lincoln's face, he would be teasing her later, she knew it. It didn't bother her though, she knew it was out of love and because he was happy to see her with someone who could make her blush like that.

Sam turned to Lincoln with a big smile as well. "Sorry for the PDA little dude, your sister just brings out that side of me." She said with a shrug.

"It's cool, just sort of weird seeing Luna blush like that." He told her.

"You think that's a blush, you should have seen her after ... "

"Sam." Luna hissed. "My little brother does not need to hear about that stuff."

Sam looked to Lincoln, his eyes wide as his thoughts ran over the many possibilities of what Sam could have meant. He did not want to think about what they were keeping secret from him, yet now that he knew there was a secret, he could not keep his mind from trying to solve the puzzle.

"Sorry." Sam said, her own face going red, as she brushed a few blue strands of hair from her face.

"It's uh, it's cool. Let's just try to move on before I have to ask Clyde for Dr. Lopez's number." He told them.

They walked around the mall looking at all the different shops. There was a music store that Luna and Sam went in to check out the cool looking guitars. Sam's eye were caught by a pick with a heart painted on it. The heart was ripped in half, revealing a skeleton of the heart beneath, as bits of flesh from the heart still clung to the bones. Sam said it looked pretty sweet, so Luna got it for her, receiving a kiss as a thank you. Meanwhile, Lincoln looked at all the different instruments through out the store, taking a particular interest in the bass guitars they had up on the walls. He remembered Luna once playing a song for him on her laptop from a band called MetalMaina, they were a thrash metal band out of California. She played him a song off their first album, Wound'em All, where their bass player performed a solo. Lincoln really enjoyed the song, even having her download it on to his zPod. A part of him thought it would be cool to learn to play the bass and maybe join a band with his sister, though that was more of a fantasy then an actual desire he had, not like working in the comic book industry or developing video games.

After the music store they walked around and window shopped. Lincoln admired a few shirts that he saw in a CJ Pennies, polo shirts of various colors. He was starting to get tired of wearing the same orange polo shirts on a daily basis, and was starting to wonder how he would looking in black or red. He also made the girls stop at a Sharper Image store to so that he could sit in the messaging recliner for a few minutes before a stuffy salesman came up and ordered him to disperse from their premises. The three kids laughed, never having actually heard anyone use the word disperse before.

After a few hours of walking around the mall, the girls stomachs began to growl, making them decided it was time to hit up the food court. Along the way they came across a game store, stacks of various board games presented in a way in the store window so as to entice the shoppers to stop and peek in. Lincoln could not help himself, and told the girls he would meet up with them at the food court after he checked out the game shop. It was an old school kind of game store dealing more with board games, puzzles, and table-top RPG's, selling everything from pewter mini's and dice, to rule books and special editions of classic board game. Zach and Rusty had bee trying to get him to play a game called Hero Crawl Classics for a little while now and figured he would maybe take a little peek at the book for the game. Luna and Sam went to get some lemonade and fries at the Hot Dog Without a Bun stand. A few minutes later Lincoln came out of the store with a black bag with the white warrior skull logo of the shop printed on it. He went and found Luna and Sam in the food court, taking a seat at the table where the two girls were sharing a basket of fries and sipping their drinks while gazing into each others eyes.

"Whatcha get?" Luna asked, looking to the black bag Lincoln held in his hand.

"An HCC core rule book and some dice." Lincoln said.

"And that is?"

"Role playing game like Kingdoms & Dungeons." He told her.

"Ah." Luna said, deciding to not follow through on any further questioning. She knew her brother was really into that kind of stuff, games and comics and things. That stuff all made her eyes gloss over whenever he tried to explain it all to her, a look he shared when ever she tried to explain the technical aspects of music.

They sat in silence for a brief moment, Lincoln sneaking some of their fries as he looked over the rules to his new hobby. He failed to notice Sam and Luna exchanging glances with each other like they were having a secret telepathic converstaion. Luna looked to her girlfriend with pleading wide eyes as she shook her head. Sam either failed to take notice or just flat out ignored the plea.

"So Luna tells me you might have a little girlfriend." Sam said.

Lincoln's shoulders slumped to his side and his head fell low. He put the book away and placed the black bag on the floor next to his feet. He rested his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together as if he were a lawyer about to enter serious negotiations with a difficult client.

"I should have guessed." He said, with a heavy sigh. "Is that why you let me tag along?"

"No little bro, I promise." Luna said, worried her little brother was now upset with her.

"Yeah I actually did want to hang with you and get to know you better." Sam interjected. "She was just telling me about what happened earlier."

Lincoln figured it was only a matter of time before everyone who knew their family would know about Kat. Secrets had a way of getting out when it came to his family. It would not be a problem if not for the fact that he wasn't even sure what was going to happen between Kat and himself. The last thing he needed was for everyone to already start jumping the gun and thinking that he and Kat were dating already. He did not need a repeat of what happened with him and Ronnie Anne. He was pretty sure that Lori still had wedding plans tucked away somewhere for them.

"Well there isn't much to talk about." He told them. "I still haven't called her yet."

"Why not?" Sam asked, beating Luna to the question.

"I don't really want to talk about it." Lincoln told them, hoping he could avoid the conversation.

"Come on little bro, it's me you're talkin to." Luna looked to him with pleading eyes. She hated it when Lincoln kept things from her. She knew he had a special relationship with all of his sisters, yet Luna had always hoped that their relationship was a bit more than just that of a brother and a sister. She always tried to be a friend, looking to be more easy going than her other sisters, someone that he could come to with anything.

Lincoln looked to Luna, then to Sam, who had a worried look on her face. He figured she was now concerned that she may have over stepped her bounds by asking him about his love life, or lack there of. He felt a little bad for her, not meaning to make her feel like that. After all, neither one of them could take the blame for his failure to hold a decent conversation with a girl that he was not related to. That was his issue to deal with and it was not fair of him to take out his own personal problems on those around him.

"Fine.' He said giving in. "Just try not to go all big sister on me please." He told her.

"Not sure what that means bro, but I will try." She held up three fingers pretending to be a scout.

Lincoln was not sure how to tell his sister how he felt. He did not want to come off like he was experiencing self-esteem issues, because that was not the case. He was pretty sure there were a lot of guys out there who experienced the same kind of hang up when it came to talking to girls. It was a hard thing to open yourself up to another person. Add to it the fact that he was not exactly sure what his feelings really were, and it was no wonder he was a jumbled mess of mixed up emotions.

Sure Kat was cute and made him feel a rainbow of different emotions, still, he did not want to rush into a relationship. He felt like he was too young to be in anything like what Lori and Bobby had, or what Luna and Sam had. Sure there were kids at school that had bragged about having girlfriends, or how they kissed them like they did in the movies, but that was them and not him. He was just a kid that liked to hang out and have fun. Still, he was sure there was a connection between the two of them, something that made him feel like she was more then just another crush of the week. And it was obvious that she liked him. Now he just had to figure out what it all meant.

"Well I guess I just don't know what to say to her." Lincoln said. "And I'm not really sure if I'm ready for a girlfriend or not."

"Why not dude? You're a heart breaker." Luna said.

Lincoln appreciated his sisters confidence in his looks, but she was family, she had to say he was good-looking. Family only called you ugly when they were messing with you. None of that was really an issue with him anyways, he had long accepted who he was and how he looked. After all he was able to lie around in his underwear reading comics and dress up in his homemade Ace Savvy costume from time to time. Only a person with a healthy ego or a prescription for _I don't give a crap_ could walk around with their underwear on the outside.

"I get where you're coming from Lincoln." Sam said, earning a puzzled look for both Loud siblings. "When I was a little younger than you are now, there was this boy I liked, as a bit more than just a friend."

Luna looked to Sam, surprised buy her girlfriends revelation. In all the time they had spent together Sam had never told her about her life before she came out. Luna felt a little twinge of guilt, thinking she should have taken the time to ask, getting to know the woman she loved better. Sam picked up on her rock queens distress and leaned in to give her a quick peck on the lips and a smile to ease her troubled mind.

"Anyways, we were friends for a long time and I started to like him as much more than a friend." Sam continued. "But I was worried that if I opened myself up to him and he didn't share those feelings then it could ruin our friendship."

"What do you mean?" Lincoln asked. He knew full well what Sam was getting at, he just wanted to hear her try to explain it since he was having a heck of time wrapping his brain around it himself.

"Well you see, we loved to just hang out and talk about music." She told him. "Sometimes we would go to the local 24/7 and get slushies and nachos, then hang out around the back and B.S. about all kinds of stuff." Sam smiled as the memories came flooding back to her.

"And you were afraid of how things would be if you went past the friend zone." Lincoln said, seeing a lot of his same problem in what Sam was telling him.

"Exactly, I didn't want that to change. I knew how people were supposed to act in a relationship, I didn't want that to be us. I was afraid it would ruin the friendship we had."

Sam's story was pretty much describing how he had felt with all of his past crushes. Paige and Ronnie Anne were a lot of fun to hang out with, great friends, he was afraid that the sudden shift past the friend zone would ruin the great times they had together. With Kat, he knew there was something special there, he felt it deep inside, and did not want to rush things, forcing something wonderful to happen before its time.

"So what did you do?" He asked.

"We talked about it and decided to just stay friends until we got a bit older. Then we could reevaluate our feelings from there and make a decision." She told him.

"What happened when you got older?" Lincoln asked.

"Well by that time I was discovering that I was more interested in girls than I was in boys." She said, looking to Luna with a loving gaze. "We're still friends to this day, and we were both glad we didn't force something we weren't really ready for."

Lincoln sat and wondered what Kat would say if he told her he just wanted to take things slow, being friends for a little while before they went on to actually being a couple. His track record didn't give him the greatest of confidence in the outcome. Yet he knew that his options were limited. He could either talk to her and see if she was ok with a slow build to what he hoped they could become. Or they could rush it and watch the timer count down before it blew up in their faces. He supposed there was really only one way to find out.

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 **Hope you guys liked that one. Comment if you recognize the references I put in there, they should be pretty obvious.**

 **Next chapter we get to see what is going on with Kat.**


	3. Chapter 3

**So here is the third chapter. I will go into it more at the end. First let me address a review here.**

 **J-Russ - Yeah I liked the idea of Lincoln getting help from someone outside of the family, and I have wanted to write some stuff with Sam and Luna for a while now.**

 **You know I have not thought about that, how the girls all seem to not show enough interest in Lincoln's life. I may have to do something with that.**

 **I sometimes feel like I have been using the inner pain of these characters as a bit of a crutch. But I really enjoy getting into the heads of characters and exploring their flaws.**

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**Relationship Status**

 **Chapter 3: Girl Talk**

It was just passed eight PM and Kat had gotten done eating dinner and taking a shower. Before dinner she had checked her phone a few times, hoping to get a text or phone call from a certain white haired boy who had been on her mind for a few days now. She put on a pair of pink pajama pants with white and black hearts printed on them, and a white t-shirt with the word princess printed in silver and pink glitter. She hopped on her bed and took out her zPad, pulling up Webflix, and scrolled through the list of shows in her queue. She was debating between resuming an episode of Cute Tiny Liars or starting the next episode of Lakedale before she heard her phone buzz. She reached over to see who had texted her. It was a number she didn't recognize. She looked at the message.

 _It's Lincoln. Wanna get together tomorrow?_

Kat froze as her heart beat sped up. _Oh my god_ , she thought to herself. She was not sure how to respond, or what to say. _Don't be stupid you know what to say_ , that tiny voice in her head said. _You have been waiting for him to text you since you dropped off the comic. Say yes!_ Her fingers danced across the tiny screen as she typed her reply.

 _Sure. Time? Place?_

Kat's mind was a mess of what if scenario's that played out like a trailer to a romantic comedy, with Holly Hale playing her and AJ Cole playing Lincoln. Her heart drummed to a frantic beat she had become all to familiar with in the past few hours. Every time her phone beeped or rang she reverted back to that shy timid girl who was too scared to give that cute white haired boy her phone number. Small shivers crawled across her body, making the hair on the back of her neck stand straight. She was both excited and nervous.

 _The park? Noonish?_

The park was good right? _Don't ask me, I'm just figment of your imagination,_ the voice in her head said. The park worked for her, and noon was a good time. She typed back.

 _Sounds good. ;-)_

He responded with a smiley face, which made her think of that smile of his, and the cute little chipped tooth. Kat lay back in her bed and looked up to the ceiling, her mind drifting back to the day she had with Lincoln and the day she was going to have. She was so excited she had to talk to somebody. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contact list. She thought about calling Joy, but knew that she would be watching Dream Boat with her parents. She looked at the name below, Jordan Taber, or Girl Jordan as she was known around school. They had only started to recently hang out, once Kat stopped hanging with most of her old clique of friends. Jordan seemed like a nice enough girl, a bit shy at first around people she did not know that well, but once she was comfortable around you she seemed like a completely different girl. She sent a text.

 _Can you talk?_

There was a brief pause as she waited for Jordan to respond. Her mind had already started to go over what she wanted to say to Lincoln. How she wanted to thank him face to face for spending his money on her. _How you want to kiss him_ , that voice in her mind said. She pushed the thought out of her head. She wasn't sure if she was ready for that yet. Or was she? The thought of kissing him made her smile like she had not smiled in a long time. But that would still be a little way off right? _You know what I think sweetie,_ the voice chimed in. She figured it would take awhile for them to get to that point, they would have to hang out for awhile, get to know each other better. Then they could move on to holding hands and giving each other cute pet nicknames, and small pecks on cheek. Then the real kiss would come, the one that she had envisioned since that day he walked away at Burpin Burger.

 _Sure._

Kat hit the little green button next to her number and waited for Jordan to pick up. She did not have to wait long.

"What's up?" Jordan asked.

"So you remember the other day when I told you I ran into that kid from school?"

"Lincoln Loud?"

"Yeah."

"Well he just texted me. He wants to meet up tomorrow."

There was a brief pause on the other side. Kat was not sure if her friend would be excited for her or try to talk her out of it. It was no secret that Lincoln was not on the hierarchy of popularity in school, and the group he hung out with never made it to the cool kids table. Those were all things that Kat used to care about, popularity was like breathing to her. Yet all the kids she hung around with in the various cool cliques had never once looked at her or treated her the way that Lincoln did. Chandler had knocked things out of her hands a bunch of times and never once offered to repay her. The brief time they dated, he spent most of the time talking about himself or the antics of him and his group of goons. She didn't care about Lincoln's popularity, he was cute and caring and she liked that. She just hoped that her new friends would be behind her on this.

"EEEEEEEEE!" Jordan screamed into the phone, making Kat quickly pull it from her ear.

"Calm down girl, I wanna be able to hear him tomorrow." Kat told her friend.

"OMG! What are you going to wear? What about your hair? What ..."

"Ok Jordi, you are at a nine girl. I need you at about a five." Kat said, cutting her friend off. She was happy that Jordan was excited for her, but she did not want to psych herself out before she got the chance to talk with Lincoln. Jordan was very good at making a production out of everything.

"Sorry, just really excited." Jordan said.

"How do think I feel? But I'm also kind of nervous." She confessed.

"Why? He totally likes you. You so know it."

"But what if he doesn't? " Kat said.

"Why wouldn't he?"

Kat knew the reputation that had followed her around school for awhile now. She was the spoiled popular girl who had recently fallen from her high horse. After breaking up with Chandler all of her popular friends had kicked her out of their little clique, and most of the other kids in the school looked at her like the stuck up brat that she had been. If not for being forced to be partners with Jordan, and Joy's kindhearted nature, she would have been just another lonely girl who sat alone in the lunch room at school. Sure Lincoln had not seemed to care about any of that on that day they had lunch, but she knew sooner or later it would come up. And if it did, how would he react to it all? Would he care about the kind of brat she used to be? Would he see the girl she was now? And more importantly what if he was not the kind of guy she thought he was? It had happened to her once before after all.

"I like him Jordie. " Kat said. "He is so cute and charming. I just … I don't want this to turn out like the last relationship."

"Chandler?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah. I don't need another Chandler."

"Sweetie, Lincoln Loud is nothing like Chandler." Jordan told her friend. "I've had to be partners with him a few times in P.E., and he is good guy."

"I dunno, maybe I'm just letting my own self doubt get the better of me."

"Can I ask you something?" Jordan asked her friend.

"Sure."

"Do you believe in love at first sight? I mean, do you think you can tell how you feel about someone with just one brief encounter?"

"Like that day with Lincoln?" Kat asked.

"Exactly. How did you feel after he left?"

Kat thought about it for a moment. She loved sitting and talking with him. There was something special about Lincoln, the way he listened to her as if he actually cared about what she was saying. The look in his eyes, that little flash of sadness when she told him how she wished she had some sisters like he had. It was a sadness like he cared, as if he actually cared about how she was feeling right then, and was showing a little bit of empathy towards her. Chandler had once told her that she was stupid to want to be from a big family, that being an only child was great as you were spoiled rotten. Rotten he certainly was, and rotten she had once been. Lincoln was anything but. He made her feel like she was the only other person around, his attention solely one her. She felt special with him. She loved that feeling, and the fact that he could make her feel that way.

"I didn't want him to go."

"And?" Jordan encouraged her friend to dig deeper, to really explore her feelings.

"I felt like I finally met someone who I could let my guard down around. Like I was instantly comfortable with him. Even if we were both kind of shy and nervous, I felt like I could be myself with him."

"Kat." Jordan sighed. "I don't know much about love beyond the PG movies I see and the junior romance novels I read. But I do know that you don't find alot of people in life who you can instantly click with."

"So what do you think I should I do?" Kat was not sure if she was asking Jordan or herself.

"Talk to him. Tell him how you feel. If this is meant to be then you guys will find away."

"Thanks Jordi." Kat said. "Once again you helped pull me through my own mess."

"What are friends and lab partners for?" Jordan said.

Kat felt a little better after talking with her friend. Still, her mind was on the next day what she was going to say to Lincoln. She still wondered how Lincoln felt about her. Was he interested in her the same way that she was with him? Did he want to kiss her as bad as she wanted to kiss him? Or was he going to end up being another Chandler? Now only time would tell, and she would have to sleep her worries away and hope for the best tomorrow.

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 **Ok so I hope this chapter worked. I was a little worried it might have been the weaker of the four. I feel like I am still trying to figure out Kat's character.**

 **Also I am about half way through the second draft of my next story. It will be ALOT longer than anything I have written before. I hope to have it up as soon as this story done.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well guys here is the last part of this Lincoln and Kat story. I will save my long winded notes for the end.**

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 **Chapter 4: The Talk**

It was a wonderful day in Royal Woods. The temperature was a nice seventy-four with a decent breeze that made it feel just a few degrees cooler. The sky was a nice crisp and clean blue, clear of any clouds. Lincoln arrived at the park a few minutes before noon. He walked around the path that coiled around the park, looking for any sign of Kat. He told her to meet him near the pond at the center of the park where all the ducks sat and waited to be fed by old ladies and little kids. He passed buy a picnic area where a family larger than his all sat around and grilled hotdogs and ate potato salad while talking and played games of tag and tossed the old pig skin around. It was indeed a wonderful day, and it was about to become a perfect day.

Not to far away was a park bench that was close to a tall older man selling ice cream from a little cart. He wore a paper hat and an apron with a white and black pattern like a cow. He jingled a little bell and sang a song about ice cream that Lincoln imagined he wrote with his gray haired wife he probably called Ma. Sitting on the bench was Kat, a mint chocolate chip cone in her hand. Lincoln knew it would be mint chocolate chip, even before he saw the green scope of ice cream that sat on the brown waffle cone. She looked to Lincoln and smiled and waved, appearing to be very eager to see him. This made Lincoln smile back as his heart drummed a beat that sounded like Luna going to town on a pair of bongos. Lincoln picked up the pace and stopped at the bench.

"Hey." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey." Kat said back, her eyes darting from the ground to the cute white haired boy that made her heart pitter patter beneath her chest.

Both kids smiled and looked at each other for a moment, their eyes slowly moving from their shoes, up until they locked each others gaze. There was a brief awkward silence between the two of them, neither one really knowing how to say what they both had wanted to say. The words were all there, stuck in a jumbled mess in their heads, like puzzle pieces scattered in a box and shoved way to the back of the closet.

"So uh, I'm glad you decided to come." He told her.

"I'm glad you texted me."

"Yeah I am to." He said, catching her eyes again.

"So how did you like the comic?" She asked.

"Huh? Oh, well to be honest I haven't read it yet."

"Oh." Kat sounded a little hurt.

Lincoln immediately took notice, feeling a small twinge of guilt that he had still not looked at the present she got him. Sure he had a good reason, but he could have at least taken the time to flip through it.

"I plan to, I am actually looking forward to it." He quickly commented, trying to recover from his verbal stumble. "And it was really cool of you to do that. I just have had something else on my mind lately."

"Oh." She said. "What was that?"

"Well … you." Lincoln reached out and took hold of Kat's hand, smiling at her.

Kat fought the urge to scream at the top of her lungs. She knew that if Jordi were with her there would be lots of screams and frantic dancing around. They hated the fact that they acted like this around boys, but they could not fight their basic instincts. Kat was fighting hard to hold hers back.

"I've been thinking about you alot to." She confessed.

They shared a smile and began to walk around the park holding hands. Kat noticed a few people looking their direction, mainly adults and older people. She imagined they were talking among themselves, remarking how adorable the two of them looked together. She could not argue the fact, as she thought they were dang cute together as well.

The feel of Lincoln's hand in hers made her heart swell and her spirit sore. She felt like she was on cloud nine, whatever that had meant. It also help calm the shaky nerves and butterflies that came with the thought of trying to talk to Lincoln about her feelings. She was worried she would spoil this moment that felt so right and so natural.

"So I guess it's safe to assume that we both like each other." He said.

"Seems like a safe bet."

"So, I guess now we just have to figure out what we are." He said.

Kat noticed the change in his voice. There was a hint of sadness there, like he was worried about what was coming. She was not sure what brought it on, but she did not like it. The thought of Lincoln being sad tugged at her heart strings and made her frown just a bit.

"Guess so."

"Mind if we sit while we chat?" Lincoln motioned for her to take a seat on another park bench. They had walked a good ways away from the old man selling the ice cream. Kat had finished her cone, and they were now near a rocky area where a flock of birds played and pecked at the seed left by an anonymous feeder. A fat black crow kawed and chased off a few smaller birds that were looking to get at a few peanuts that someone had dropped.

"Sure." Kat said, taking a seat. Lincoln sat down next to her, so close she could feel the warmth of his leg against hers. She liked being that close to him, it made her feel safe and special.

"Kat I really like you." He said.

"I feel a but coming." Kat said, getting a chuckle from Lincoln.

"I'm uh, I'm not sure that I'm really ready for a girlfriend yet." Lincoln confessed. His breath went short and his heart beat like a jackhammer trying to burst through his chest. His nerves were ablaze as he waited for Kat to tell him he was a jerk and she never wanted to seem him again.

"Oh." She said.

As much as Lincoln was glad that she did not rip into him, the simple word she spoke in the heart broken tone, had stung him much worse than the slap to the face he imagined he might have gotten.

"I'm not lying when I say I like you a lot." He told her, trying to reassure her that he did in fact have feelings for her. "I feel like there is something really special with us. I feel comfortable with you, while at the same time you make the butterflies in my stomach get butterflies in their stomachs."

Kat giggled.

"I just think that I am kind of young to be in a serious relationship." Lincoln made sure to take a firm grasp of Kat's hand as he talked her, looking her in the those beautiful green eyes of hers. "That does not mean we can't be friends, get to know each other better and work our way up to being boyfriend and girlfriend."

Kat looked away from Lincoln, her eyes settling on a couple of birds with blue and gray feathers that squawked at each other. It looked like they were having an argument over which one would get the remaining peanut that a crow had left behind. What Lincoln was telling her hurt, but she had to admit that it made some sense. In the end she felt the same kind of potential with him. And she knew that if she rushed it, things could just end up ending badly for the both of them. It would infact, almost be another Chandler situation all over again.

"I understand if you don't want to be friends after this." Lincoln told her, starting to loosen his grip on her hand.

Kat quickly turned back to Lincoln and smiled at him. She squeezed his hand gently. "Lincoln I really like you." She told him. "I have not stopped thinking about you since we hung out at Burpin Burger. And more then once I have thought about kissing you."

Lincoln could feel his cheeks going flush as she mentioned kissing him. The thought had actually entered his mind on a couple of occasions as well.

"So ... I have no plans of going anywhere. I think that you're worth the wait." Kat said. "That we are worth the wait. So if you want to take it slow, then we can take it slow."

Lincoln smiled, a great weight having been lifted from his shoulders. He had tossed and turned in his little twin sized bed all night as his mind was filled with thoughts and concerns as to just how Kat would handle the talk he knew he had to have with her. He was more than relieved to know that she willing to take things slow for the time being.

Kat held on to Lincoln's hand, scooting closer to him on the bench. She rested her head on his shoulder as they watched the birds and looked out over the pond. She was a little sad that she would not be getting the kiss that she had been thinking and dreaming about. Still, she knew it was only a matter of time before she would get what she wanted. He was right, there was something magical between them, she thought that she felt it that day at Burpin Burger. With him now at the park, the way her heart fluttered and her mind was in a sort of fuzzy and warm kind of calm, she could feel it again. They would be in love, they would be together, and eventually she would finally get to kiss the boy that stole her heart.

End

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 **So I hope you guys liked how this ended. I will admit that the first draft had them getting together as a couple, but the more I thought about it the more it felt like Lincoln would want to wait and go slow. And it felt right for Kat to decide to go along, despite the fact that she appears to already be in love with the poor boy.**

 **Now if the ending was not to your liking because you want Kat and Lincoln to be together, well I can only say this. While working on this story a thought struck me, a single word. Trilogy. I mean they are all the rage in Hollywood. And with Christmas coming up, well I feel the need to starting giving out presents, even to those within the Loudverse.**

 **Mike The Red Engine - Glad you enjoyed the story up until this point. I hope the end was worked for you.**

 **Codymitchell1 - Hope you enjoyed the story.**

 **J-Russ - I have never once ... (eyes dart back and forth) ... thought of REALLY hurting anyone within the Loudverse ... (nervous whistling) ...**

 **And finally I am about eighty percent done with my next story. I hope to have it out either next week or the week after.**

 **As always thanks for reading and hope those of you that celebrate Thanksgiving have a good one. Those that don't ... well have a kick ass regular Thursday.**


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